5 Reasons Why Play is Purposeful

Many times, as adults we may not always remember how necessary play is for children including teenagers.  There is a purpose for play.  Here are 5 reasons why children and teens play:

1.  To develop social skills and interact with adults and peers.
2.  To explore objects - touch, hear, taste, see and learn from objects.
3.  To be creative and develop imagination skills.
4.  To develop motor skills so that hands can manipulate objects and children can move throughout their environment.
5.  To learn cognitive skills - cause and effect, motion analysis, number correspondence and more!

Need game ideas for your family?  Check out the Growing Play game collection.

5 Tips to Help Children With Pretend Play

Many children love to play pretend and create elaborate imaginative settings and characters.  Some children may need a little extra help to expand their make believe play skills.  Here are 5 simple tips to help your child or student develop pretend play scenarios:

1.  Ask questions about what the children are playing?  This will encourage the children to effectively communicate about what they are pretending.  In addition, it gives you an peek inside a young child's thought processes. 

2.  Participate in the play.  Once the child has explained the scenario join in at their level - sit on the floor or small chair and get into "character" ie restaurant customer, patient, pet owner, etc.  

3.  Role model pretend play.  Once you are in "character" display appropriate behavior and conversation related to the theme.  Pretend to eat the play food, talk on a play telephone or check the next patient.  This allows the child to observe other play scripts to add to their scenarios.

4.  Offer suggestions if needed.  If a child seems stuck on advancing the scenario offer some suggestions of how they could expand the pretend play.  Maybe suggest different characters or different ways to use objects.  Remember to just suggest not force changing the scenario.  Sometimes children have an extensive play script in their minds. Follow their lead whenever able.

5.  Provide ample time and different environments for pretend play.  With children, pretend play can take place over hours, days and even weeks.  My daughter and I have been playing that we are orphans for weeks.  A few months ago, she was the school teacher and I was the student. Vary the environment, playing pretend outdoors brings a whole new experience.  Read here about 5 Outdoor Imagination Activities.

Need visual prompts or suggestions for pretend play?  Check out the most popular pretend packet - Doctor and Hospital.  The Hospital and Doctor packet includes 22 forms and signs to play pretend hospital and doctor.  Included are waiting room signs, check in desk, insurance cards, appointment 
cards, emergency forms, plan of care, nursery forms and more!  Kids of all ages will love this packet to take playing pretend a step further.  FIND OUT MORE.

Reference:  Marna Winter & Heidi Hollingsworth (2015) Promoting Pretend Play in the
Preschool Years: Teacher Practices and Strategies for Involving Families, Childhood Education,
91:3, 182-189, DOI: 10.1080/00094056.2015.1047309

Let's Play Make Believe Poster

Ever need to spark some ideas for pretend play?  Print out this poster to hang in your playroom, early childhood center or preschool.  You can download it here. 

Check out all of our printables for pretend play doctor, hospital, school, animal care, secret agent and candy shop.

10 Things Our Youngest Children Get Away With

Funny, how as time goes by, my parenting rules seem to all fall by the wayside.  I am the youngest of seven children and have heard my whole life from my older siblings how my parents let me get away with everything.  Now that I am the mother of six, I completely get it! Here are 10 things I let our youngest children get away with:

1.  Stay up past 7:00 pm.  When our oldest 4 were little they were all in bed by 7 pm sharp!  My husband and I would blissfully head downstairs to watch television in peace.  Now, I am lucky if I get the youngest in bed by 9:00 pm.  Life is so hectic in the afternoons here by the time dinner is cleaned up, homework is done and baths are complete and we can start reading it already way past 7:00pm.  

2.  Wear whatever they want.  If you can dress yourself, you can wear it.  I was still dressing my older two daughters up until first grade.  That is pathetic on my part.  Now, my 5 year old has been dressing herself for years.  I just have to work on training the one year old!

3.  Drink juice boxes.  My older four children only had juice boxes as a treat or the occasional picnic. Now, if you can grab a juice box by yourself at dinner time it works for me. One less spill and one less glass I have to pour.  Thankfully, they don't choose them too often.  

4. Quit a peewee sports team.  We used to say to the older kids once they signed up for something they had to finish. They were part of a team, the team needed them, blah blah blah....  Ok, I get that in high school but at 5 years old?  The "team" will probably not care that you may not be there to pick grass or dig in the dirt while you wait for the ball to come to you.  

5.  Play with food and water if you are occupied.  My oldest children sat in high chairs where I spoon fed them until they were way too old.  When they started to make a mess I would wipe it up right away.  Occasionally, they were allowed to play with their food when I was in the  mood to clean it up.  Now, I feel like every meal is a sensory exploration of food while my youngest eats.  He could probably use a bath after each meal.  But if it means he will sit for a few minutes in the high chair while I get the lunches made or the dishes done it works for me.  I just rinse him off in the sink, change his clothes if necessary and go about our business.

6.  Sleep in our bed.  This one is laughable!!!!  Our oldest never came in our bed.  I didn't even nurse in the bed.  I sat up in the chair morning, noon and night.  That went by the wayside with each child.  By the 5th and 6th child, they never slept in a crib until close to 6 months old.  If it meant I could sleep, I didn't care where they slept.  No one is in the bed now and the youngest is 20 months so we have come full circle.

7.  Act like a lunatic during meal time.  My oldest children ate dinner all at the same time and in a somewhat organized fashion.  Now my youngest will climb up and want to eat at the big table with the older kids - fine by me just eat.  He runs back and forth on a bench we use in the dining room while he eats one bite at a time - fine by me I didn't have to get up for a few minutes.  One time he was eating ketchup from a mini cup at McDonalds and I had no clue.  Once I realized, I did take it away but we still crack up about it, I was sitting right next to him.  

8.  Giving in to screaming.  Oh boy am I guilty of this one.  Our youngest is a screamer.  He is a late talker so I understand why he screams but I should ignore it more often.  That being said, ear piercing screams are painful and super annoying so if giving in to you makes it stop, I do it.  There is a time and place to work on this and I have to choose my battles.  Shopping at Target is not one of those places where I want to pick a battle - so go ahead and eat a baby food pouch while we shop.  I will just warn them at the check-out that he licked it all over before they touch it.

9.  Do things one more time after I just said "only one more time".  I get side tracked easily from the older children who need my help so I tell the toddler "only one more time" only to let him to do it probably 100 more times because I need to help with homework, sign a paper or cook dinner.

10.  Eat lollipops at age one.  I think my oldest daughter was three years old before she ate a lollipop!  The last two definitely had lollipops as babies.  Of course, I watch them very closely with it but we have many events that the older children have to attend and the babies need something to keep them occupied for 30 minutes during an award ceremony, basketball game or a long car ride (and I do not want the baby to fall asleep).  Someone is always watching them with the lollipop so that is guilt free but the fact that we never brush those baby teeth afterwards....whoopsie!

What are you guilty of letting your youngest get away with? 

Need to occupy your little ones?  Check out Toddler Book Pages.

Baby and Toddler Book Pages - Engaging for Baby and Easier to Hold

Baby Toddler Book Pages are a digital download of 10 entertaining and educational pages for baby. This set includes the following 10 themes: baby, dogs, cats, toys, animals, farm, trucks, outdoors and 2 color identification pages. 

GrowingPlay.com

You can print the pages on cardstock paper and laminate. If you don't want to print the pages, let your baby/toddler look and read the picture pages on a smartphone, tablet or computer. 

GrowingPlay.com

If you want to print the pages smaller, open up the file and set your printer to print multiple pages at once. For example, if you want 4 pages to a regular size piece of paper, hit FILE - PRINT - MULTIPLE - SELECT 2 or 4 pages per sheet. 

Point and show the pictures to your toddler saying the name of each object, describing the picture or reading the word. You can laminate the pages, punch holes and put on a key ring or let the baby have just one page at a time (easier to hold).

Print as many times as you like for your personal use. Print a set for yourself and make one for a friend. The baby toddler pages make a GREAT gift!

Remember this is a digital download with instant delivery. You will receive an email immediately following payment and you will be able to download the book pages.

Only $2.99.  To purchase the Baby Toddler Book Pages ADD TO CART below.

What Looks Like More Fun?

What do you think looks like more fun?  Choice A or choice B?  Question #2 is what do you think your children will remember when they get older?  Choice A or choice B?

I find it sad when I see children all circled around a smartphone or even worse every child just staring at their own cell phone.  Kids, including teenagers, should be socializing with each other and playing. Play should not constitute of only sharing funny videos or apps.  

Don't get me wrong - there is a place for technology in children's lives.  My concern is the overuse of technology while children are developing play skills, social skills and motor skills.  

I want my children to look back on their childhood and remember all the fun they had outdoors, camping, playing cards, board games, hiking, swimming, fishing, sledding, and exploring.  They may also remember watching movies together, playing Family Feud on the iPad, videoing crazy skits they created or geocaching. Technology does have a place in play development but it needs to be used wisely.  

Looking for a fun game to play when you turn off the electronics?  Check out Set the Record - download it right away and start playing! 

Waiting Games - 20 Games to Pass the Time

Waiting Games is a 22 page download of twenty games to play while on a road trip, waiting for an appointment or sitting around a campfire.  This collection of activities encourages children to develop self-regulation, creativity and communication skills while they wait. 

This packet includes games such as 60 Seconds, Reverse 20 Questions, Let's Debate, Outside the Box and more! 

This is an electronic document so immediately following payment you will receive an email with the link to download the book.  You can print it and toss it in the car so you have something to rely on during those times when the kids start to get antsy.  If you don't want to print it, just save the PDF to your smartphone or tablet and take it with you to reference wherever you are.

Download a free sample page - I Spy Memory Lane

To order Waiting Games for $3.99 click on the ADD TO CART button. You will receive an email with a link immediately following payment to download the book.